the Grand Mosque of Paris attacks CNews and the whistleblower

In a press release published Monday January 6, rector Chems-eddine Hafiz attacked the CNews channel, denouncing a “intolerable slanderous campaign” carried out by the continuous news channel against the Muslim institution, against a backdrop of arrests of several Algerian influencers in France.

The rector particularly condemned the comments made on CNews by Chawki Benzehra, presented as the “whistleblower behind the arrests of two Algerian influencers” by the channel, and which the Paris mosque describes as“obscure blogger”.

“Discriminate against all Muslims”

During his video intervention, Chawki Benzehra called for “take an interest in the Paris mosque which welcomes influencers, and which finances them. The rector of the mosque meets every month with Algerian President Tebboune. Do you consider it normal that there is an agent of influence of the Algerian regime and the Algerian military junta on French soil and that he is at the head of the Paris mosque? And that this mosque is at the service of a campaign to destabilize France?

In his press release, the rector of the Paris mosque rejects “entirely these words”. He denounces a “global strategy of CNews” plus large, “aiming to discriminate against all Muslims in France, to deny them the simple right to exist in our country, and to spread the poison of the extreme right in our society”. He also regretted “the absence of contradiction and the silence of the French authorities when certain small groups and extremist ideologues lead a sneaky campaign to try to destabilize the Grand Mosque of Paris”.

The Muslim institution also cited Xavier Driencourt, the former French ambassador to Algeria from 2008 to 2012 and from 2017 to 2020. The press release affirms that he is “known for his blind hostility against the country where he served”.

Close ties with Algeria

For the rector, this “slanderous campaign” East “partly the result of the strong positions and commitments of the Grand Mosque of Paris against the far right, particularly during the last elections of June and July 2024”. On June 28, a few weeks after the European elections won by Jordan Bardella and the day before the legislative elections, Chems-eddine Hafiz published a press release in which he expressed his concern about “the rise of the National Rally” and called on Muslims to counter the far right.

While the close links between the Grand Mosque and the Algerian regime are pointed out by different personalities in France, the rector defended himself by recalling that the establishment “is governed by an association under French law – like all mosques affiliated to it on French territory”. What does not “in no way prevents it from benefiting from strong and historic ties with Algeria, in perfect agreement with the French State and in complete coherence with the virtuous and universal missions of the institution”he continues. And to add: “The Grand Mosque of Paris intends to remain an independent institution, carrying the voice of Islam and all Muslims in France, fraternally open to others and to the world by cultivating links with many countries, including Algeria. »

Chems-eddine Hafiz finally threatens to engage “prosecutions against any false allegation broadcast by CNews, or by other media, when it undermines the integrity of the institution and our fellow Muslim citizens that it represents”.